Osinachi Nwachukwu
-A Tragedy Waiting to Happen
-Who Will Be the Next Victim
For far too long, Nigerians have become anesthetized to stories of death. Not because the people are unfeeling or heartless. No. But in a country where the social media has made it difficult to conceal the things special interest groups don’t want the public to know, the psyche of the average Nigerian has been numbed by daily tales and images of victims of kidnap and ritual murder, corpses of slaughtered villagers, physically abused women and sundry horrendous cultural practices that constitute violations of the basic freedoms of citizens. While there could be outrage when such affronts arise, on the whole, not much is heard of any follow ups that could serve as a deterrent in future.
Take, for instance, the case of the over 70 persons who were slaughtered in Kanam Local Government of Plateau State or the six persons allegedly killed last March when suspected herdsmen attacked a farm settlement in Mgbuji and Ebo, Eha-Amufu, Isi-Uzo LGA of Enugu State or the 25 persons killed in Benue State, all within three days. Not to forget the 25 persons allegedly killed in a fresh orgy of blood-spilling again by suspected herdsmen, who invaded three local governments in Benue State. Consider the outrageous fate of one Ajueze Obiorah, the young widow who stripped and paraded naked by her in-laws on the nebulous ground that her alleged infidelity was responsible for her husband’s death. Or the case of the widows who are either compelled to drink the water used to bathe their husbands’ corpses or indeed pass the night alone with the corpse to prove their innocence. Or widows who are stripped of their husbands’ properties by their in-laws. Such are the indignities to which women are subjected that stink to high heavens for remediation.
Granted that women’s rights groups have pout up some fight against these human rights abuses, in reality, change for the better is sluggish, even discouraged.
That is why the news of the death of Osinachi Nwachukwu, one of the finest of Nigeria’s gospel artistes, hit many Nigerians like a thunder bolt. Osinachi, as she was popularly known and addressed by her numerous fans and admirers while alive, was a lead singer at the Dunamis International Gospel Centre, Airport Road, Abuja. Beyond sparking understandable outrage, the death of the talented singer has raised questions about whether people should remain in abusive relationships on religious or cultural grounds. In the end, while it could be called destiny, what has emerged is that Osinachi was that Osinachi was blinded by what she perceived to be fidelity to her religious belief to the extent that she spurned entreaties by relatives and associates who, unlike her, saw the handwriting on the wall. However, her husband has denied any hand in Osinachi’s death, in what is bound to be a sensational homicide challenge for the Nigeria Police.
BACKGROUND
Osinachi Nwachukwu was born Osinachi Madu. She was originally from Abia State, but the family lived in Enugu. The renowned gospel artiste died at the prime age of 44 and was married to Peter Nwachukwu, a pastor with Dunamis International Gospel Center, Abuja. Peter Nwachukwu is from Nnewi, Anambra State. Osinachi, whose voice has been variously described as “angelic” came to limelight in 2017 when she featured in the gospel song, “Ekwueme”, a song said to have hit 71 million YouTube views.
CONTROVERSIAL DEATH
At first when the news filtered out that the gospel artiste had passed on to the great beyond, the cause of her death was attributed to throat cancer. However, as her numerous fans were yet to come to terms with her sudden transition, other chilling accounts of what led to her death started creeping out from the closets of the late Osinachi’s relations, friends and professional colleagues. First to break the ice was Frank Edwards, a professional colleague of the late gospel artiste.
Edwards in his official Facebook page, stated that Osinachi died from complications she suffered because of domestic violence. Reacting to the news of her sudden demise, Frank Edwards wrote on his verified Facebook account, ‘’So that unreasonable human being finally put off a shining light. I won’t say much now, I’ll let the former NDDC director [AUNTY Joy] who did everything possible to stop this from happening talk 1st, but it still happened. We tried to stop this’’, he lamented.
Edwards revealed that Peter Nwachukwu was in the habit of molesting his wife both physically and verbally. According to him, the husband of the late gospel artiste had once slapped her in the studio simply because she wanted to record one of her songs in Igbo. He further disclosed that the late gospel artiste was so much afraid of her husband that she did nothing without his express approval. Giving an instance, Edwards said that he was once contacted to get Osinachi to perform at an event, but she asked him to beg her husband to secure his approval first.
The late gospel artiste’s elder sister, Ms. Favour Madu also punctured the cancer theory as the cause of Osinachi’s death. According to Favor, Osinachi might have died of complications arising from series of domestic violence her late sister was subjected to by her pastor husband. She disclosed that her late sister went through hell in the hands of her husband and refused entreaties to take a break from the marriage.
She dismissed with a wave of hand insinuations that her younger sister had died of cancer, insisting that “my sister had series of domestic issues with her husband.
Someone told us that she had a fight with her husband, and he kicked her on the chest, took her to the hospital, and she never returned” ….
Before now, we told her to come out of the marriage, after we discovered she was going through harrowing times in the marriage, but she would not take any of that because, according to her, divorce was against her faith.
Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen also collaborated the domestic violence suffered by the late Osinachi in the hands of her husband. Tallen who spoke on the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA’s Good Morning Nigeria breakfast show, lamented that what the children of the late gospel artiste told her was both traumatizing and heartbreaking.
The minister said that the children told her that their father brutalized them and their mother, adding that Osinachi had no bank account of her own as her husband was in charge of all proceeds from her musical efforts.
A DELUGE OF SAD TESTIMONIES
For Osinachi, it has been a deluge of sad testimonies to the domestic violence she suffered in the hands of a man that should have been her prime protector. Osinachi’s mother, Mrs. Madu, in an interview she granted the BBC lamented her daughter’s ordeal at the hand of her husband, Mr. Nwachukwu. The mother said her late daughter insisted on staying in the marriage with her husband on the justification that ‘what God has joined together, let no man put asunder’. This is despite the series of abuses she experienced in the marriage.
From the Women Affairs Minister, Dame Pauline Tallen came the sad tale of the children of Osinachi. According to the minister, the children said that their dad used to beat their mom and their mom was always sad. The children told the minister that their father would beat her and flog her.
The children further told the minister that their father would gather them in the room and be beating them and if the mom comes into the room to stop him, he will turn back on her and beat her up. And that has always been the issue.
“They said it was their mom that runs around on her gospel music, comes back with her money, in fact, if the money is paid through (a) bank account, it was paid into his account. She has no account of her own, any money she has, he collects it and gives her just peanut for feeding and when she cooks, he starts shouting and beating her. And their mom was living in fear and was always sad.
THE PASTOR PAUL ENENCHE ANGLE
The late Osinachi was the lead singer in Pastor Paul Enenche’s Dunamis Church. Beyond being the lead singer, the two had collaborated to produce one or two hit gospel songs. With the controversy surrounding the tragic passage of the gospel artiste, many have called out the medical doctor turned pastor for condoning domestic violence. However, in a video posted on his official Facebook page on last week, Pastor Enenche said he decided to set the record straight by disclosing what he knew regarding the circumstances surrounding Osinachi’s death.
His words: “We are in the season that calls for sober reflection in the light of the passing of our beloved sister, Osinachi Nwachukwu, who is a kingdom asset and a generational asset to the generation to come. In the light of so much misinformation, in the light of so much misconstruction of events, I decided to set straight what I know concerning the situation.
“I called the head of our medical team, Dr. Osang, who is a Consultant Pediatrician at the Federal Medical Centre, Keffi, to assist with their situation. He, in turn, called his colleagues at the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, where they attended to them.
“Upon seeing her, they ordered some investigations after an examination, and that included a CT scan. That was done and from what the doctors saw, they felt that there was a need for further investigation, either at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital or at the National Hospital in Abuja.
“I called the doctor, a consultant pulmonologist respiratory physician at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Akoh Alexander, and told him about the situation, and he asked that they come to see him immediately; and they went to the Gwagwalada Teaching Hospital.
“After she was examined, they felt there was a need for histology and biopsy of the lung tissue and they asked that she should go to the National Hospital to get that done.
“I again called Dr. Jubril, who is the Head of Pathology and Consultant Histopathologic of the National Hospital Abuja and reported the issue to him so he could help us with the investigation and find out what exactly happened and they continued the management.
He said: “The histology was done, and from what I saw at that time, the picture was much milder than what the CT scan earlier showed. So, we felt very happy that, at least, there was a relief. She called me daily and we prayed with her, she reported progress; the point came when she did not need oxygen anymore.
“According to what she said to me one night, they checked her oxygen perfusion and it was 100 per cent, and we were very excited about that progress.”
“That was the point it was before my wife and I attended a crusade in Cameroon. On the second night in Cameroon, I was informed of the unfortunate incident of her passing.”
Mr Enenche said that he was not aware that the singer suffered domestic violence before her death.
He said: “If there was domestic violence that led to or coincided with those symptoms that she came with two to three months ago, there is no way I would know. And if there had been perennial domestic violence, there was no way I would have known.”
Mr Enenche said that he heard about the domestic violence allegations after the singer’s death, and he began to investigate.
“I began to ask questions, first I asked the twin sister, ‘were you aware that your sister passed through all these things. She said she knew some of them but a majority of them, she was hearing also from those she (the victim) confided in. I asked her, I said if you knew, why didn’t you let us know?’
“The sister said she always begged her, please don’t let the church know, don’t tell the pastor, please the man will change, just pray for us, and that continued to happen.”
Mr. Enenche also said that he spoke with the first son of the deceased, during his condolence visit to the family on Tuesday. He said he told him other stories of their mother being abused.
“I asked why you didn’t you tell me, because typically they will run towards me after service and I will pray for them and lay hands on them. And I said why didn’t you tell me about what was going on in the home, and the young man said, they couldn’t tell me because the father would always ask them after they left me and said, ‘what did you tell the pastor?”
The pastor also noted that he spoke to other choir members who were aware of what was going on in the singer’s marriage. They told him that Osinachi was in the habit of going on her knees to beg them not to escalate the issue.
“The last one that touched me so much was the music producer who came to see me in the office a few days ago to tell me his own experience. He told me how he witnessed the man slap his wife in his studio, and I said to him, you saw a man slap a woman in your presence and you left the man and…and he said that before he could respond to the man, the woman again with tears on her knees begged him not to do anything, to leave him alone.”
The pastor said that he has zero-tolerance for domestic abuse.
SENATE INTERVENTION
The Senate President, Senator Ahmed Lawan has directed the Police and other security agencies to ensure that anyone remotely connected to the death of the gospel artiste is made to face the full wrath of the law. Lawan gave the directive in his remarks moments before the Senate held a minute’s silence in honor of the deceased.
He held that the life of every Nigerian citizen mattered and must be accounted for by security agencies and relevant authorities where death occurred. The Senate President’s directive was sequel to the intervention of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah (Anambra South) who, coming under Order 42 of the Senate Standing Orders on Personal Explanation, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah had drawn the attention of the chamber to the controversial death of the singer.
Reacting to the widely reported news of her demise, the Senate president called for investigation to unravel the actual cause of death.
Said he: “The authorities should investigate the death of this citizen, and the lives of every citizen must matter. This is one death too many”.
POLICE ANGLE
Following revelations and public outcry over the death of the gospel artist, the accused husband, Mr. Peter Nwachukwu, has been arrested by men of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Lugbe Division in Abuja. Nwachukwu was said to have been arrested last Sunday after the brother of the late singer reported a case of suspected homicide to the police.
Joseph Adeh, spokesperson of the FCT police command, confirmed the suspect was in police custody, just as she also explained he was arrested on grounds of suspected culpable homicide and that investigation into the matter was ongoing.
Said she: “The man, Peter Nwachukwu is currently in our custody. A family member of the deceased lodged a report for culpable homicide at Lugbe police station. Following the complaint, we arrested the suspect and the investigation is currently ongoing. We will make the findings public.”
NEXT MOVE
Nigerians await the outcome of the investigations wondering if the death of Osinachi will help curtail the rising incidence of domestic violence in the country.
PEOPLE SPEAK
‘’So that unreasonable human being finally put off a shining light. I won’t say much now, I’ll let the former NDDC director [AUNTY Joy] who did everything possible to stop this from happening talk 1st, but it still happened. We tried to stop this”-FRANK EDWARDS
“My sister had series of domestic issues with her husband. Someone told us that she had a fight with her husband and he kicked her on the chest, took her to the hospital, and she never returned …Before now, we told her to come out of the marriage, after we discovered she was going through harrowing times in the marriage but she would not take any of that because, according to her, divorce was against her faith”-MS FAVOUR MADU-ELDER SISTER
“The sister said she always begged her, please don’t let the church know, don’t tell the pastor, please the man will change, just pray for us, and that continued to happen.”-PASTOR PAUL ENENCHE
“The authorities should investigate the death of this citizen, and the lives of every citizen must matter. This is one death too many”. -SENATOR IFEANYI UBAH
“The man, Peter Nwachukwu is currently in our custody. A family member of the deceased lodged a report for culpable homicide at Lugbe police station. Following the complaint, we arrested the suspect, and the investigation is currently ongoing. We will make the findings public.”
